Cinder Block Garden
by Wapomeo Huntress
Summary: Samantha Maddox was used to routine. But change is more than welcome when it shows itself as a confident, secretive, charming newsies by the name of Jack Kelly, but Forever can't last after all. Or can it?
1. Chapter 1

I was used to routine

It'd be the same thing everyday. Wake up, get to school early, talk with Ms. Mathew, have her teach class, go home. Nothing changed and nothing was ever out of the ordinary. This was of course until one day, Ms. Mathew's newsie was late.

I walked in at my usual time and shot Ms Mathew a grin. "Morning Ms." I said, perching myself on top of one of the desks in front of hers.

"Good morning Sam, how are Liam and Jacob?" She asked, still writing things on the board. I shrugged before answering.

"Not bad, Jacob likes going down the hall to the neighbors all day, Liam hates his job." I replied. I looked around at the empty room. "Hoping for a small class today Ms.?" I asked.

"Oh, I can only hope that's the case, I'm far too tired to deal with an entire bunch. Especially since I have a possible night class tonight." She replied. I was about to ask her something else when there was a knock on the window. Ms. Mathew sighed. "I'm sorry Sam, he's late." She said, wandering over. I followed behind her, curious about who "he" was. She opened the window to a smirking boy, no older than 17 with chocolate brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He had an air about him that made you curious as to who the hell he was.

"You're late Kelly," Ms. Mathew remarked. She was stern when she said it, but wasn't directly mad at him.

"Sorry Ms, took my time getting here." "Kelly" said. I had to assume it was a last name.

"Alright, well as long as you have my paper." Ms. Mathew said. Kelly faked looking hurt.

"I'm quite insulted Ms. Mathew. Of course I have it." He said, handing her a copy of the New York World.

"Thank you Jack." Ms. Mathew said with a smiled. So, the guy's name is Jack Kelly. It suits him. He looked over Ms. Mathew's shoulder and smirked at me.

"Who's your student?" He asked. Ms. Mathew turned to me, as if she was just remembering I was there.

"Oh! This is Sam Maddox. Sam, this is Jack Kelly." I strode over to the window so I could get a better look at him. He was probably one of the better dressed newsies I had seen.

"Pleasure to meet ya Miss. Maddox." Jack said with what I liked to call a heart warming smirk.

"Same to you Jack." I replied with my own smirk. Ms. Mathew sighed behind me.

"Alright Jack, go sell your remaining 100 papers you've got. Should I be expecting David today? Or the boys tonight?" She asked.

"No Davey, it's Les's turn. And I'll see if the boys want to come tonight. I should have an answer by the afternoon edition." Jack answered. Ms. Mathews nodded.

"I'll see you then Jack." She said with her usual smile.

"That ya will. Nice meetin' you Sam." Jack said as he walked away and back onto the main street, that's when I noticed the cowboy hat sitting on his back.

"What was that all about?" I asked as Ms. Mathew shut the window.

"That was Jack Kelly, as I said. He's a newsboy from my neighborhood. I would always buy a paper from him back before I had to get up this early for my job. Now that I do, he brings my paper here and I pay him at the end of the week with a tip for making the trip. Usually he's earlier, but occasionally he's late." Ms. Mathew explained as she examined the headline. "Oh, I don't know how the boys sell these horrendous headlines." She said.

"Maybe they fake 'em?" I suggested. Ms. Mathews laughed.

"I don't doubt that. Most of them do. Though Jack and his gang like to put it as "it's not lying, just improving the truth." and it's nothing the writers don't do." Ms. Mathews said.

"Wait, Jack's a leader?" I asked. I noticed that technically, school had started three minutes ago, but no one was here. Maybe Ms. Mathew was going to get her wish.

"Yes, he runs the group in The n from there, the neighborhoods have their own leaders. It's a quite well established system." Ms. Mathew said. There was a knock at the door. Ms. Mathew went over to open it and there was a short kid with curly hair. He looked like one the kids in my class, David Jacobs. Wait, he had a kid brother, and Jack earlier had mentioned that it was his turn to come to school. I chuckled at myself that it had taken me that long.

"Hi Ms. Mathew." The kid said with a bright little grin.

"Hello Les, your class is down the hall." Ms. Mathew said.

"I know, my teacher isn't here and they told me to come here." Les replied as he came in.

"Well alright. Les, this is Sam. It looks like it'll be just you two today." Ms. Mathew said. I smiled and stayed sitting on the desk while Les sat in the seat next to me. Ms. Mathew taught for the day and at three o'clock, there was another knock on the window. Ms. Mathew walked over and didn't notice that Les and I had followed her over.

"Good afternoon Jack, have the afternoon edition?" Ms. Mathew asked.

"Of course Ms.," Jack said, handing over the paper. Les saw Jack and grinned.

"Jack!" He said, running over to the window. Jack chuckled at the over enthusiastic kid.

"Hey Les, what're you doin' here?" Jack asked.

"My teacher's out and there's no one here." Les answered. I smiled at the interaction between the duo. Jack looked over and smiled at me. I casually braced myself on the desk behind me.

"Hello Ms. Maddox." He said. I chuckled and smiled back.

"Hello Jack, how were sales?" I asked. Jack shrugged.

"Could've been worse. Ms, the usuals are coming tonight. But rumors are bein' tossed about Captain bringin' some his boys over." Jack replied.

"And Captain is?" Ms. Mathew asked.

"East End of Queens. They're good guys." Jack said.

"Thanks for the warning Jack." Ms. Mathew said. She turned to me and Les. "You two are free to go if you want." I nodded and wandered out. David was waiting for Les and the two of them left together. _David must've come with Jack._ I thought. Jack strode over to me.

"So Sam, where're you headed?" He asked. I took in the fact that he stood a few inches taller than me.

"Um, Lower East Side." I responded. Jack shot me a crooked grin.

"Funny, I'm headed the same way. Mind if I?" He asked. I shook my head, so he and I fell in step and made the trek towards home.

"So, Miss Sam Maddox, what should I know about you? Over protective mother who wants you to be proper? Abusive dad?" He asked, as if he'd heard it all before.

"Well, how 'bout dead parents and currently living with an elder brother and a younger brother?" I suggested. Jack nodded.

"Well, that's certainly new, and one that I'm curious to hear." He said.

"How 'bout something like this, I share a bit of information and you share a bit. Fair trade?" I proposed. Jack seemed to think about this for a second.

"Seems fair, sure you ain't a newsie Miss Maddox?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

"Pretty positive, and you can just call me Sam. It's easier." I replied.

"Very well, Sam. Where ya from? Seem a bit too proper to be from the Lower East." Jack said, getting the conversation rolling.

"Born in the Upper East Side. Mom died post giving birth my youngest brother. Dad two years later. None of the local relatives wanted to have us, so Liam moved us, got a job, and now here we are." I said with a shrug as we walked by some prissy woman who had their heads held up like fancy carriage horses. I couldn't help but let out a laugh at them. Jack tilted his head.

"What?"

"I just always laugh at these women with their heads held so damn high. They look like carriage horses. And don't their necks hurt?" I said walking backward compared to Jack.

"No clue, but something that should be asked." He said. I let out a laugh and turned around. We walked a bit more before I purposefully walked into a woman with her head held high.

"Sorry miss, I just have a quick question," I started, pausing long enough for her to acknowledge me, "but doesn't your neck hurt?" I asked.

"Pardon?" She said, so very confused that I bit back a laugh.

"From holding your head so high? Doesn't it hurt your neck?" I reiterated. Jack was stiffling his own laugh.

"No, good day." She said storming off. I let out a laugh, as did Jack. He threw his arm around me.

"See, you're fit to be a newsie." He said.

"Nah, not my speed. But I'll happily supply entertainment whenever needed." I replied. We walked a bit more and learned a bit more about each other. Well, more like Jack learned quite a bit about me and I learned tidbits about him. Soon enough, we arrived in front of my apartment complex. "This is my stop." I said.

"Alright, well, it's been a pleasure meeting you Sam." Jack said with a smirk.

"Same to you Jack." I shot him a salute and wandered into my building I watched out the front window as Jack walked away. I jogged up the steps and knocked on the neighbors door where Jacob was staying. The young woman who opened the door I hadn't met before.

"Um, hi. I'm here for Jacob Maddox?" I said. She smiled.

"Oh yeah, lemme go get him, come on in." She wandered into one of the rooms and got Jacob.

"Sammy!" He said. I laughed.

"Hey kiddo, come on." I looked to the woman who got him, and now that I had time to see her, I noticed she wasn't much older than me. "I don't think we've met, I'm Sam Maddox." I said.

"Pleasure, I'm Melody Jones, Mrs. Jones's daughter. You can call me Mel." She said. I nodded.

"Well, tell Mrs. Jones that Liam will be over later to pay her for watching Jacob." I said. Mel nodded and I walked out and over to my apartment with Jacob behind me.

"How was your day Sammy?" Jacob asked as I unlocked the apartment.

"Good, I had a small class with Ms. Mathew. I met a new friend of sorts." I said. Jacob lit up at the mention of a friend.

"Do I get to meet them?" He asked.

"Maybe when you're a bit older. Or when I know him better." I said. As Jacob sat on the couch, Liam came in.

"God I fucking hate that job." He muttered walking in.

"Liam, can you keep your mouth clean for Jacob's sake please?" I asked.

"Sorry sis, how was school?" He asked.

"Pretty good. Had a small class." I replied.

"Good, well I'm going to sleep." He said, going to his room and shutting the door. Jacob looked at me, clearly confused.

"Liam had a rough day, now come on, off to bed with you too." I said. Jacob whined a bit but I picked him up and carted him to his room, lying him down and then I proceeded to crash on our crappy couch. Leaving me to wonder if Jack's overcrowded bunk room he mentioned was any comfier.

_**A/N: After a several year hiatus I have proudly returned to the Newsies fandom. Man, it has been a while. Hope you all enjoyed my first chappie and sorry if Jack's a bit off, it's gonna take sometime getting used to writing him again.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Cbg ch2

Waking up the next morning was not fun by any extent of the word. It was too early to comprehend anything, and I for one didn't want to realize how stiff I was going to be when I stood up. But as they say, the show must go on. So I struggled to stand up and shake myself off. I found a corner of the room where I could change into today's attire. Next was to go see if Jacob was awake, he usually was. I blame this on the fact that kids still have something to look forward to in the day. I knocked on his door and a fully dressed four year old greeted me.

"Morning Sammy!" He said with a grin. I smiled back.

"Morning kid. Come on, let's go to Mrs. Jones's." I said, taking his hand and leading him down the hall. I knocked on the door and Mel answered.

"Hey, Sam right?" She asked, letting Jacob run into the apartment.

"Yeah, hey Mel." I replied. She shut the door to the apartment and stood in the hall with me.

"Wanna walk with me, see how far we can get before we split?" Mel asked, adjusting her ponytail a bit.

"Yeah sure, where're you headed?" I said. We made our way down to street level.

"Tibby's, it's a resteraunt. I'm a waitress." Mel said. I nodded.

"Interesting, well I'm going to a school a little bit away so I think you'll be leaving before I do." I replied, Mel shrugged and a holler of a newsie on the street corner caught Mel's attention.

"Blink!" She yelled, running ahead. I laughed and ran after her as the newsie on the corner spun her around.

"Hey ya Mel!" He grinned. I realized why they called him Blink when I got close enough and noticed the eyepatch.

"Where's Mush?" Mel asked, looking up at Blink.

"He's down for the day, wasn't feelin' well." He said. He then looked at me. "Sorry Miss, I'm Kid Blink. You can just call me Blink." He said. I smiled and nodded.

"Sam Maddox." I replied. "I should be headed, I'll see you tonight Mel, nice meeting you Blink." I said, walking the rest of the way to school alone. When I got there, Ms. Mathew was scrawling on the board. "Morning Ms." I said as I sat on my usual desk. She turned around and smiled at me.

"Morning Sam, Jack's already brought the morning paper if you were looking to see him this morning." She said with a wink. I laughed.

"What makes you think I want to see him again?" I asked with my eyebrows raised.

"I watched the two of you walk together yesterday, I'm not blind Sam." She replied with a chuckle.

"Uh-huh, sure. And you totally don't look at Mr. Jordan with googly eyes." I replied. Ms. Mathew blushed crimson and I knew I had won. At that moment, a few other kids came in, including David Jacobs.

"Hey Davey," I said, "how was selling yesterday?"

"Hey Sam. And not bad, but not great." He replied sitting in the seat next to me. While David and I weren't exactly best friends, we talked to each other rather than the rest of the kids in our class who were usually the children of sweatshop owners. Or I suppose the proper term is "factory owners", but both David and I know that the factories are legal death traps. The other kids came in and sat in their seats, so I decided now was as good of a time as any to actually sit in my desk like a normal person. And as on schedule as ever, Ms. Mathew started class.

"Welcome to those who weren't here yesterday, hope you had a good day, now onto our first lesson." She said with a smile. The class got going and was a blur of things I learned yesterday. There really wasn't much to the day so it was practically a godsend when Ms. Mathew released us. David and I walked out together and discovered that Jack and Les were waiting.

"Davey!" Les said, running up to his elder brother. I couldn't let out a chuckle as Les nearly tackled David to the ground. I turned to Jack.

"Hello Jack." I said with a grin. He raised his eyebrow.

"Why is there a girl stalking evily towards us?" He asked, slightly concerned. I whipped around.

"Oh joy, Annabelle. I was hoping to not have to deal with her today." I mumbled turning to face her.

"Hello there Samantha." Annabelle said with a sickly sweet smile. I rolled my eyes and glared.

"Annabelle, a pleasure seeing your shineing face. I thought I noticed a street wide IQ drop." I said with a smirk. I heard Jack bite back a laugh behind me. Annabelle glared.

"Oh you must know, it's something that happens as you walk home with this street rat."

"If you had one brain cell, it would be lonely." I fought back.

"I can hear mine commiting suicide."Jack noticed me tence up and grabbed my wrist before I could launch myself at her.

"Your father reaks of elderberry and your mother is a hamster. Good day miss." I said, regaining my composure dragging Jack off before not even he could hold me back from letting the fists fly. When we were about a block and a half away, Jack asked the question.

"Who was she?" He asked.

"An old friend from when I was still high class. Her name's Annabelle Murphy. We were great friends, but then my parents died and Liam had to move us. Basically her parents carved it into her brain that I was basically the enemy. It's a dark and brutal warfare between the two of us." I replied as Jack and I fell in step.

"I gotta ask? How was what you said an insult?" He asked.

"What? Your father reaks of elderberries and your mother is a hamster?" I asked looking for clarification. Jack nodded once. "It basically means your dad's a drunk and your mom's a whore." I said with a simple shrug. Jack let out a laugh and even I couldn't not smile at that.

"I might have to borrow that." He said.

"Be my guest." I said with a chuckle. We made it back to the Lower East Side, and stood on a street corner.

"When do you actually have to be at your apartment?" Jack asked, looking at me.

"Um... Before 8?" I suggested. "I just have to be able to get my baby brother from my neighbors." I said. Jack nodded.

"How much do you trust me?" He asked with his eyebrow raised.

"More than I should." I replied. Jack smirked and put his hand out.

"Then come with me." He said. I put my hand in his and he proceeded to drag me down the street. I'm sure we were quite a sight. A newsboy dragging a slightly more refined girl down the street. But who cared didn't matter and those who mattered didn't care. Jack turned a couple corners before we reached a resteraunt reading "Tibby's"

"My friend Mel works here." I said as Jack opened the door. As soon as that came out of my mouth, Mel came to seat us.

"Hey Jack, table for one?" She started, then saw me, "correction, table for two. Hey Sam." She said with a grin.

"Hey Mel," I said with a wave.

"Hey Song, yeah table for two." Jack said with his ever cool demenor. Mel walked us over to a table and sat us down. She went to the kitchen and came back with two cups of coffee. To be completely fair, I wasn't much of a coffee person. But I figured for Jack's sake I'd try. So I took a sip and man was it bitter. "Sorry, it's not the best." Jack said as he watched my reaction.

"I'm just not used to it." I said with a shrug.

"It is somethin' you need to get used to." He said. We sat and chatted as he finished his cup and I made my way through mine. Once you got through the initial shock, it wasn't half bad. Mel strode over to us.

"Hey Sam, wanna walk back to the apartment with me?" She asked. I looked to Jack who stood up.

"Go ahead, I better be headin' back to the lodging house. Same time tomorrow Sam?" He asked.

"Same time tomorrow Jack." I replied. Jack nodded and strolled out of the diner. Mel took my hand and dragged me in the direction of the apartment.

"So, you and Kelly hm?" She asked with a sly smirk.

"Oh shush it's nothing, we were just headed in the same direction one day so we walk home together. No big deal." I said, with a shrug.

"Big deal! Look, I know the newsies quite well and I know Jack pretty well. And if there's one thing I know is that their aren't many women he deals with. It's probably just me, you, and Davey's sister once in a blue moon." Mel said. We jogged up the steps to the apartment complex.

"So why bother with me?"

"You've intrigued him Sam, not much more to it." Mel said. We went up the stairs to our floor where Mel opened her door and handed Jacob off to me. "All I'm going to say, is that Sam Maddox, you are one lucky girl." She then shut the door. Jacob looked up at me.

"What was she talkin' about Sammy?" He asked.

"Just my friend." I replied, walking him to our apartement where Liam had already come home and had passed out on the couch. So I led Jacob to his room and then borrowed Liam's room for the night. I might actually get a full nights sleep.

And that idea alone was enought to put me into a deep sleep.

_**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about the slow turn around in terms of a second chapter but I had a bit of trouble starting it. So if you'd like to share your thoughts on how this plot is doing please do and I shall see you in ch. 3**_


	3. Chapter 3

"There's no way I'm a lion." Jack said. I laughed as we walked through Central Park. Jack and I had this on going agreement that had lasted us a couple of weeks at this point. We were currently arguing over what animal represent us the most. Jack was being humble and denying his lion status.

"Jack! You are literally the leader of this gang of boys and you take on the world with this ferousity and spirit. There's no way in hell you aren't a lion!" I exclaimed.

"Alright fine I'm a lion, but you are definitely a fox." He said.

"I'll take a fox, foxes are cool." I said shooting Jack a grin. He grinned back. We were walking close to the edge of the park when Jack turned to me.

"There's a poker game tonight, you in?"

"Jack, while I'd love to, I don't know how to play poker and I really should go home at some point." I said.

"C'mon you have to meet the boys at some point. And I'll have you home at some point." He said. I wasn't gonna cave but then he tilted his head, with a smile that could basically summed up as "you know you can't resist." I groaned as my shoulders slumped and Jack laughed at my non verbal admitance of defeat.

"Damn you Kelly, when'd you get cute?" I said. My filter had apparently turned itself off and a quick blush flashed over my cheeks. But it didn't faze Jack as he flashed me a smirk.

"I've always been cute, where have you been?" He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh shut up, just lead the way you dumbass." I said. Jack laughed and stretched out his hand. Without hesitation, I put my hand in his. He held his grip on it and started running. I had gotten better at keeping up with him. We rounded several corners until we came up on a shabby looking building with a sign that read "NEWSBOYS LODGING HOUSE" Jack dropped my hand and gestured to the place.

"Welcome home Sam," he said.

"Thanks Jack." He nodded and walked to open the door. When he did, there was a very old man waiting at the desk.

"You're back late Kelly." He said. He then turned to me, "And what have I told you about bringing girls?" I looked to Jack with a cocked eyebrow. He shook his head and rolled his eyes at the old man.

"Relax Kloppman, she's here for poker."

"When have you brought a girl just for poker?" Kloppman replied. Jack rolled his eyes and dragged me upstairs.

"So I'm not the first eh?" I joked. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Don't mind him, he's probably reffering to Sarah." He replied. I chuckled.

"Relax Jack, you act like I'm jealous. What you do when I'm not around is on you. Just don't go asking for bail from me." I said. Jack smiled at me. And I will stand by a fact that Jack's smile could save me from just about anything. When he wasn't smirking, his actual grin was something to behold.

"Thanks Sam, now c'mon, let's meet the boys." He took me into the main bedroom where all the boys were collected around a small box they were using as a table. When Jack entered the room a small comotion erupted. They were shouting over each other and I made out some of what they were saying.

"Jack who's the girl!?"

"'Ey Cowboy am I dealing you in?"

"Sam! How've ya been?" The last one clearly came from Blink seeing as he was the only one who lived in the lodging house and knew my name. I looked over and smiled at him as Jack got everyone to settle down.

"Alright! Guys this is Sam. Sam, these are the newsies of the Lower East Side. They'll hopefully introduce themselves later. She's gonna be joinin' us tonight so long as you lot don't scare her off. Now, anyone heard from Conlon?" Jack said. His speech to the boys further prooved in my head that he was a lion.

"Spot said he'd see if he could make it." A boy with curly black hair and a cigar in between his teeth.

"Figures, no straight answer Conlon." Jack muttered. I chuckled.

"Kelly, chill, c'mon let's get a round going." I said. Jack nodded and found a place among the boys sat around a box. I sat next to Blink.

"Hey Blink," I said. Blink turned to me and grinned. Though with Blink it seemed like he never stopped grinning.

"Hey Sam, how've you been?" He asked.

"Pretty good, seems like your scraping by." I said. He nodded. Jack had been telling me that even the boys could sell back the unsold papers, the headlines didn't get better after the strike.

"Yeah, haven't had a good headline in a week." Blink said.

"That sucks."

"Sam, you playing?" The cigar newsies asked.

"Umm... No. Can't." I replied. "I'll just watch this round."

"You're missin' out Sam." Mush, who Blink had introduced me to a week after Jack and I had fallen into a routine.

"What's this about missin' out?" A thick Brooklyn said. The room turned to see a blonde boy crawl in through the window. He had a gold tipped cane hanging from his belt loop. Jack stood up and spit into his hand. The blonde boy did the same and they shook hands.

"Nothin' Spot, Jacky boy just brought a guest." The cigar newsie said.

"What's that Race?" Spot asked. Cigar's name was Race, okay I'm learning. Spot had turned to Jack and Jack shrugged.

"Look, Jack, if me being here is gonna cause havoc, I'm gonna go." I said as I stood up. Spot looked at me and smirked.

"No need to worry 'bout that doll, you're welcome to stay. Spot Conlon." He said sticking his hand out. I rolled my eyes but played nice, shaking his hand.

"Sam Maddox, and call me doll again and you might have a broken manhood." I said. The boys around me laughed. Spot smirked.

"Jacky-boy, you've got a keeper." He said.

"She ain't a newsie. Just a fox with a silver tongue." Jack saod with a bit fondness shot at me. Race made a verbal gagging noise. I laughed as Spot joined the table and Jack and I sat down. We played for what felt forever, but it was probably more like a couple hours. I swear, I gained abs from laughing so much. These boys kept each other on their toes and they were clever. I swore in this moment to never let anyone tell me that newsies weren't smart. There was a banging downstairs and one of the younger newsies ran down. There was a bit of arguing when the newsie came back up.

"Sam, someone's here for ya." He said. Jack nodded for me.

"Thanks Snipes." I looked at the clock. 9 PM...

"Shit! I'm so late!" I shouted. I darted down the stairs, and sure enough, in the main lobby was my pissed off older brother.

"You're late." I looked at him and how in this moment he looked so much like my father.

"I got distracted." I replied. Jack was standing at the top of the stairs.

"Same time tomorrow Sam?" Jack asked.

"Same time tomorrow Jack." I called back as Liam dragged me out. I shut the door behind us. "Liam, you're making a big deal out of nothing, I was out an hour later than usual, but it was with friends! You keep telling me I don't have friends, but as soon as I have them, you're against them." I said. "Where did you even know where to find me?" I asked.

"I asked Mrs. Jones' daughter. Melanie?"

"Melody." I corrected.

"Fine, she said that you were talking to Jack so I stopped by the lodging house first." He said. We spent the rest of the walk to the apartment in silence. When we got to the doorstep, Liam grabbed me by my shoulders.

"Sammy, I'm not mad at you. And I'm sorry for snapping at you, I'm just a bit stressed." He said.

"It's fine Liam. Though you look like dad when your pissed." I said. Liam laughed and just hugged me.

"I felt like him, now c'mon let's get upstairs before Jacob tears the apartment apart." He said. I laughed and we jogged up to the apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up the next morning on the couch as per usual. I sighed figuring I had to get dressed. I threw something on and looked into Jacob's room.

"Morning Sammy." He said grinning at me as he walked to the door.

"Mornin' Jacob, ready to head over?" Jacob nodded and we set off to the Jones' apartment. Jacob knocked and Mel answered.

"Hey ya Jake, hey Sam." She said with a grin. Jacob went inside and Mel came out with me. We jogged down to street level and headed out. "So your brother came looking for me last night, where did he find you?" Mel asked. There was no point in lying to her, she'd just ask Blink.

"I was at the lodging house. Jack invited me over for poker." I said. Mel looked like she was counting in her head before her mouth dropped.

"No... Jack Kelly brought you to Manhattan and Brooklyn poker night?! That my dear is the highest honor an outsider can recieve. How was Spot?" She asked.

"He was okay," I said. Mel laughed.

"Dude! The boy is whipped! Oh my god this is brilliant! So long as you don't start bursting into song,"

"Trust me if I burst into song it means you're boring." I quiped

"No matter! The leader of Manhattan is infatuated with a girl!" Mel exclaimed. She then proceeded to twirl me around.

"Infatuated might be taking it a bit too far." I said. We had reached the corner where Blink and Mush typically met us.

"What's this about someone bein' infatuated with someone?" Mush asked. I wanted to cover it up, but Mel beat me to it.

"Jack Kelly is infatuated with Sam! How else do you explain the fact that he brought her to Manhattan and Brooklyn poker!?" Mel exclaimed.

"Okay first no more sugar in your cereal, second we're just friends!" I replied. Blink laughed.

"Sam, Jack's fond of you. Infatuated might be takin' it a bit too far, but he does seemed to have taken a shining to ya." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"While you three have delusions of granger, I'm gonna go, see you tomorrow!" I said. I walked to school on my own. David was waiting on the steps as he saw me run up.

"Hey Davey, Les out selling?" I asked as we walked in to head to class.

"Yeah, think he and the younger newsies are going out together." He said. When we got to class, Ms. Mathew was waiting and she tilted her head. I shrugged, and sat down. Everyone else came in and sat down and as per usual class began. It had been a drag for me, the rest of the class didn't focus so we only got through half the lesson. So when school let out for the day I was a bit annoyed. The day didn't get any better when I realized that Jack was late. It wasn't a first for him. If he was late, he'd find me on the route back. I was about to start walking when I heard coughing behind me. I rolled my eyes and turned around.

"Ah Annabel, I see you've brought yourself yet again to a battle of wits. That's like bringing air to a gun fight!" I said glaring at her. As soon as other students saw me and Annabel facing off, they knew that things might get ugly. Annabel scoffed.

"And I see you got a day off from the brothel." She said. The crowd started mumuring. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh you were almost relevant." I said. That sent the crowd mumuring even more.

"Your dad died to get away from you." She said. That nearly launched me at her, but I had one more solid insult before things got physical.

"Your face, looks like an alligator chewed up a cat, shit it out, then tried to paint a face using realism and feces." I said. One of the girls that considered herself one of Annabel's friends gasped.

"That's it!" Annabel then launched at me. I braced for her nails but she knocked me to the ground, clawing at my face. The crowd was cheering and I flipped her over. I kneed her in the gut once and then punched her in the jaw. I then felt someone pull me off of her. She got her goons to help her up and I glared.

"Didn't you know?! Ladies don't start fights they end them!" I shouted at her. I turned to who was holding me back, it was David who then walked with me in the direction of home.

"I look like a mess don't I?" I asked once we were a decent ways away.

"Yeah, but to be honest? Annabel looks worse." He said. I laughed as he took me to the lodging house. I tilted my head as to why he brought me here. "You need to get cleaned up, Liam seems like he'd have a coniption if you came home like that." David said.

"Thanks Davey." I said. I walked inside and jogged upstairs. Race and one of the other newsies were already sat around the crate they used to play poker.

"'Ey, you're Cowboy's girl... Sam ain't it?" Race said. Jack had told me a couple days after we met that the newsies flip between Jack and Cowboy.

"I'm not "his girl" per say but my name is Sam." I replied. "I need the bathroom." I said.

"Why?" The other newsie asked. I gestured to my face.

"Had to end a petty cat fight. I won but I have a feeling I've got a split lip coming on." I replied. Race gestured behind him.

"Open the door, Kloppman should have the water on." He said. I nodded in thanks and walked that way. I walked in and realized that the room had no mirrors so cleaning the injuries up would be done blindly. I got a faucet going and splashed my face a couple times. I hoped I had looked somewhat presentable when I went outside. I did go out and Race turned to me.

"Alright Sam, want in?" He asked.

"No thanks Race, I need a nap." I said. I popped up on one of the empty bunks and while it smelled vaugely familiar and had it's pillow facing the center of the room, and I proceeded to take a nap. I didn't wake up until a soothing voice was shaking me awake.

"Jack, just let her sleep." I heard someone, I think David, say.

"Her brother might have my head again. And I want my bunk back." Jack replied. Well, that explained why it smelled familiar, it smelled like Jack. "Sam, Sammy, c'mon Sam you've gotta get up, I don't want your brother ripping my head off." He said. I groaned and rolled over, which in my tossing and turning while I was sleeping, caused me to roll off the bed and plunge toward the floor. Only to be caught by someone. I opened my eyes to see Jack with his always present smirk on his face.

"Didn't plan for you falling for me Sam." Jack said with a chuckled I rolled my eyes and forced him to stand me up. His smirk was still on my face as he steadied me.

"Let go of me Kelly." I said. Jack threw his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, c'mon Sam," he said. The two of us walked out together. We hit the pavement and Jack smiled at me. "Sam, have I told ya about Santa Fe?" He asked.

"I know it's a city in New Mexico. Not much to it yet, why? What's special about Santa Fe?" I asked.

"It's got a different air. A bigger sky." He said.

"I'm not gonna fight you on the air, anything is better than New York City air." I said.

"And the sky?"

"Well the light might refract different, but it's the same sky as here." I replied. He chuckled.

"Yeah I guess, I gotta ask, how'd you get your face busted up?" Jack asked.

"Petty cat fight with Annabel. I insulted her appearence after she insulted my dad." I said.

"But your dad's dead." He said.

"Yeah, but she's the only one outside the immediate family who knows how he died." I said with a shrug. Jack was pretty good at dropping subjects when need be, but this one he didn't want to drop.

"How? If I can ask." He said. I could've said that he couldn't ask, but I was tired of having to keep dad's death a secret.

"Suicide, on my mom's birthday." I said. Jack looked over at me like I might break at any moment. But I had come to terms with my father's death eons ago. We arrived at my apartment complex and I turned to look at Jack.

"Same time tomorrow Jack?" I asked. He nodded.

"Same time tomorrow Sam." He said. He shot me a smirk and wink and I rolled my eyes. I jogged up the steps and got Jacob from Mrs. Jones. Jacob looked at my face and frowned.

"What happened Sammy?" He asked.

"I got into a fight, I'm fine." I said. When I came into the apartment, Liam was putting his boots on.

"Oh good, you got him," Liam said before he looked up, when he did, his train of thought derailed, "What happened!?"

"I got into a fight with Annabel Murphy. You should see her." I said, my smile becoming crooked, mirroring Jack's in a way. Liam rolled his eyes and took off his boots.

"Dinner's on the table." He said as he disappeared into his room to sleep for the night. Jacob and I ate together and when Jacob finished, he left to his room and I crashed on the couch.

Jack's bunk was way comfier.


	5. Chapter 5

Waking up the next morning was not on my list of priorities, but such as life and the show must go on. I dragged myself out of bed and dusted myself off. When I looked to the window to see what the weather was like, I saw a silhouette on the fire escape. The one thought flashing through my mind was _what the hell; I'm too young to die._ I cautiously picked up a book and armed it like I was gonna bash someone's head in. I walked toward the window and noticed the silhouette was lying low to the window, like it was sleeping. I got to the window and ripped the curtain open to find a sleeping Jack Kelly, curled up and lying on his arm with his hat on his head.

"Jack! What the hell!?" I exclaimed as I lowered the book, thank goodness I had left the window open so he heard me. Jack lazily looked up at me with his perfectly crooked smile.

"Morning Sam," he said as he sat up a bit.

"Jack Kelly, why the hell are you passed out on my fire escape? Better yet, how the hell did you know this was my fire escape?" I asked

"The answer to the second question is I asked your building supervisor. And what's wrong with me sleeping on your fire escape, figured you'd be happy to see me." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Jack, you can't do this, you'll get killed or worse mugged." I said.

"Nah, no one's gonna mug a street rat." He said. I sighed and offered him a hand to help into my living room.

"It's a miracle that Liam didn't see you when he got up this morning." I said.

"He swears a lot when he's waking up."

"Yeah this doesn't surprise me. Lemme go get Jacob out of his room, then I have to get dressed and then we'll go. Alright?" I said. Jack nodded once and I walked to Jacob's room. Jacob as usual was already up and dressed; he came out and joined Jack in the living room. Jacob looked at Jack with suspicion in his eyes.

"Who's this Sammy?" He asked. Jack smirked at me and the nickname, I glared at him that read _only he can call me Sammy_.

"Jacob, this is my friend Jack. Jack, this is Jacob, my baby brother." I said. I started to walk towards Jacob's room to get dressed, I paused to turn around, "Please, try not to corrupt my brother too much Jack. I'd like to do that myself." I said. Jack laughed and I smirked as I shut the door and locked it. I quickly got dressed, not knowing how impatient Jack could be. When I came out Jacob was laughing and Jack his arm slung around his shoulders, almost looking fatherly. I shook my head at that. "Alright, the both you come with me." Jack laughed and we headed the door. I shut it behind us. "Alright Jack, I've gotta drop Jacob at Mel's mom's place. I'll meet you on the streets." Jack nodded reluctantly and darted down the steps. I knocked on the door and Mel answered.

"Hey Sam, come on in Jake." She said, letting Jacob pass into the apartment. Mel quickly tied up her hair and we headed out.

"So who were you talking to in the hallway?" She asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I said.

"Try me,"

"Jack."

"Our Jack? Like Jack Kelly Jack?" She asked. I nodded. Her face went from normal to a full on madman grin in .5 seconds.

"SAM! JACK KELLY SLEPT ON YOUR FIRE ESCAPE!?" Mel yelled.

"Yes! And you're gonna wake up the entire building if you yell like that again!" I harshly whispered at her. She rolled her eyes.

"He's whipped and he doesn't even know it! Oh this is brilliant." Mel said. We were out the door before I could get another comment in. Jack was waiting on the curb, leaning against a light post with a cigarette between his teeth.

"Morning Kelly, fancy seeing you at this end of the world." Mel said. Jack looked up from his feet and smirked at Mel.

"Moring Song, I figured I'd walk Sam in today." He said.

"Don't you have to stop the distribution center?" Mel asked.

"Yeah, but I figured it was about time that Sam saw my place of employment." He said. I shrugged.

"I don't care; I just need to get to school at some point." I said. Jack offered his arm and I took it.

"Then we better get headed." Mel said. I nodded and the three of us headed towards the square, which you heard before you saw. The boys were loud and boisterous and singing some sort of vaudeville tune at the top of their lungs.

"HIGH TIMES, HARD TIMES, SOMETIMES THEY LIVE IN THE STREETS. AND SOMETIMES THERE'S NOTHING TO EAT. BUT I ALWAYS LANDS ON MY FEET!" I heard them yell. I turned to Jack who was laughing.

"I think they went to see Medda last night."

"You think?" Mel joked. When we entered the square, Jack surprisingly joined in and it left me and Mel out of the loop.

"YOU WIN SOME YOU LOSE SOME MY DEAR. OH HIGH TIMES HARD TIMES SOMETIMES THEY LIVE IN THE STREETS AND SOMETIMES THERE'S NOTHING TO EAT. BUT I ALWAYS LANDS ON MY FEET. SO WHEN THERE'S DRY TIMES, I WAIT FOR HIGH TIMES AND THEN, I PUT ON MY BEST AND I STICKS OUT MY CHEST AND I'M OFF TO THE RACES AGAIN!" I looked at Mel who was laughing at the Newsies. But the crowd of the newsies suddenly became quiet and this caused me and Mel to run over and check out what the hell was going on. When I made my way through the newsies, in the center were two bowler hatted men who due to family resemblance were probably brothers. I slid up next to Jack and leaned against him.

"Jack what do we have here? Two idiots who think they can divide by 0?" I asked with a smirk on my lips. Jack chuckled knowing I was just warming up.

"Jacky boy, letting girls into your ranks, way to soil them." One of them said. I rolled my eyes.

"First off I'm a lady thank you very much. And second, you've validated my suspicion that the world is full of idiots." I said. The newsies cracked up as the other brother looked at me.

"Why bother hanging around with gutter trash?" He asked and I over exaggerated a wince.

"Oh god! You're even worse than my initial misconceptions." I said. This got the newsies laughing even more. I looked to Jack who was positively beaming at me.

"How much are the boys paying you?" One of them asked. That's when the newsies went silent. Even I could feel the glares directed at the two men in front of me. I felt Jack stiffen next to me.

"Nothing you could manage 'cause I bet if you had one more brain cell, it would be lonely." I responded, not missing a beat. Jack balled his fist, which at some point was his hand in mine. Before I could react, Jack threw a punch and one of the brothers hit the pavement.

"Sorry, heard my brain cells committing suicide." Jack said with a grin directed at me. I beamed at him as the other brother dragged him away. The newsies started cheering and laughing again, giving both me and Jack praise for handling ourselves. Jack ran up the ramp once the gates opened and got his typical 100 papers.

"How the hell are you going to manage to sell those?" I asked as we walked away from the distribution center and towards school. Jack preceded to hand me a paper.

"Read me the headline," he asked.

"Why?"

"I've gotta have somethin' to hawk." Was Jack's wise ass response. _Well, you never ask a smart ass how he slept; you'll get a smart ass answer._

"Um… Mayor reveals new budget to committee." I said. Man that was a shit headline.

"EXTRA EXTRA! MAYOR PREPARING TO GOUGE MORE MONEY!" Jack yelled. Soon enough, business people flocked to him and bought the paper off the bogus headline.

"I'm impressed, I have to admit." I said as I handed the paper back to him.

"You have your talents, I have mine. Keep the pape, Ms. Mathew's gonna want one right?" He said with a smirk. I chuckled at him.

"So I forgot to ask, what was the song the newsies were singing, sounded like you all knew it?" I said. Jack chuckled.

"It's one of Medda's tunes; she sang it to us at a rally when we were striking." He said.

"Who's Medda?" I asked. Jack looked at me.

"Have I not introduced you to Medda yet?"

"No…" I replied hesitantly.

"Alright, I know what we're doing tonight, unless…" Jack tilted his head with an impish grin

"No Jack, I'm not skipping." I said not even to bother looking at him.

"Oh come on," Jack said.

"No!" I said with a chuckled. We finally arrived at school, "besides, we're already here." I said with a smirk. Jack rolled his eyes but kept a grin on his face.

"Same time as always?" He asked.

"Same time as always." I replied. I then disappeared into the school building and Jack walked back out to the streets. When I walked into Ms. Mathew's class, I handed her her paper "courtesy of Jack." I said when she gave me a confused look and with that class started.


	6. Chapter 6

I came out of class that afternoon to see Jack standing with the throng of siblings, mostly older brothers, though there were parents in the mix as well. I jogged out of the building and grinned at Jack. He grinned right back at me and opened his arms. I chuckled and ran into his arms as he picked me up and twirled me around. I laughed and hugged him back.

"Jack you're causing such a scene!" I said only half caring about the middle and upper class families around us. They were staring at the two of us, some with distain others with a sense of fondness.

"Who cares, let 'em stare." Jack said as he sat me down but kept me in a hug.

"C'mon Jack, don't we have a theatre to get to?" I asked. Though it was mostly muttered into his shoulder, I felt Jack chuckle and before he let me go I took in his scent of ink, dirt, and the city around us. He let go of me and offered his arm.

"That we do, come, to Irving Hall we must go." He said. I laughed and took his arm. We walked down the street to a different part of town then where we had traveled before. I looked up to Jack who was genuinely smiling as we walked down the street.

"How'd selling go?" I asked.

"Pretty well, sold all 100," he replied. We then came in front of a building that read "IRVING HALL: STARING MEDDA LARKSON"

"You didn't tell me that you knew the star of the show." I said. Jack laughed as we walked in through the stage door.

"She's a friend of my father, you'll love her," he said. Jack tried to make himself more presentable and I chuckled at his efforts.

"Relax, you said you knew her." I said. A woman with bright red hair and a puffy purple dress came down the steps off stage.

"Kelly, what are you doing here kid?" She said with a smile as Jack walked up to meet her half way. He kissed her hand and smirked at her.

"Had someone I wanted you to meet, we didn't miss your show did we Med?" He asked.

"Sadly you did Kelly, who did you want me to meet?" She asked.

"Medda, this is Samantha Maddox; Sam, this is Ms. Medda Larkson, she owns the joint." Jack said. I smiled and offered my hand.

"A pleasure to meet you Medda, Jack's spoke highly of you. And the newsies seemed to like you." I said. Medda laughed at this and nodded as she shook my hand.

"And to you as well Samantha, and yes, the newsies do like the show." She said. "Don't be a stranger around here Kelly, alright?" Medda then disappeared into her dressing room. Jack and I both looked at each other.

"Well what now?" Jack asked. I smirked.

"What's your jacket size?" I asked.

"Umm… no clue." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Where's Medda's costume closet?" Jack pointed down a hall and I offered my hand. "How much do you trust me?" I asked. Jack grinned.

"More than I should." He said. I laughed and took his hand; I jogged down the hall and opened the door. I went through the men's costumes and found a suit jacket that roughly matched Jack's build. I then threw it at him. I looked through the female's costumes and found a dress that roughly would match my measurements, though I hadn't been properly measured in years. "Um… Sam, when are you gonna tell me what the hell you're plannin'?" Jack asked. I turned to him with the dress in my arms. I was right, the jacket did fit. I smiled at him.

"Jack Kelly, you and I are gonna sneak into a proper show." I said. Jack's eyes widened.

"How?" He asked.

"Trust me; I mastered the art of sneaking into shows several years ago." I said. Jack shrugged. I then shoved him out of the dressing room. "Wait out here, I've gotta change." I said. I shut the door, locking it afterwards. I shrugged off my suspenders that I had borrowed from Liam and shed my shirt. I threw my dress over my top and got it to fit pretty well, accounting for the hanging suspenders on my hip and the movements of my belt loops on my pants. I shoved the shirt in a bin; I would just steal another one of Liam's old ones when I got home. Consider it a generous donation, assuming Medda wouldn't mind me and Jack making off two of her costumes. I came out of the dressing room finding Jack leaning against the opposite wall. He looked up from cleaning the ink out from under his nails and his jaw nearly dropped. "I'm not gonna bother asking how I look." I said with a laugh. Jack chuckled and offered his arm.

"In case you cared, you look beautiful Sam." Jack said with a genuine smile. I smiled at him.

"Thanks Jack, now come on, the doors open any minute now." I said as we ran down the street, trying to not cause too much of a scene. We made it to the door and I stood behind a family whose daughter looked awfully familiar. "Amelia?" I whispered. Jack looked at me oddly, but the girl in front of us whipped around to look at me and her face lit up in a smile.

"Sam? Sam Maddox?" She asked. I laughed.

"Hey A-mil, mind if I sneak in with your family like old times?" I asked. Amelia chuckled and looked to Jack.

"Yeah alright, for the sake of old times," she said. I grinned, nice to know I have friends in higher class who don't want to cause social suicide. We walked into the theatre and saw Jack look around, taking in the entire grand specter that was just the lobby.

"Wait 'til you actually see the theater." I said. Jack chuckled and we jogged up the stairs following Amelia and her family. Her parents hadn't looked back at me and Jack so we might just be in the clear. We made it to the mezzanines and we sat down ourselves on the end. I quickly turned to Amelia. "The show isn't sold out right?" I asked.

"No, you'll be fine." She said. I smiled and turned to Jack who was still taking everything in. I turned back to Amelia.

"How've you been, honestly?" I asked.

"Oh well, the usual. Dori got married off to some man in Pennsylvania." Amelia said. Dori was her older sister and was probably who the spare ticket was for. I nodded once. I was about to ask more, but the show started up and I was put into silence. The show was something of a romance, with a good douse of action. Jack was watching a bit of interest and I chuckled. He was into it more than he was playing off. All too soon the intermission came and went and the show ended. Jack and I filed out with the crowds and hit the streets below. We walked around a fair bit, not really having intent in our walk. It was late; I was most likely going to be killed by Liam when I got home. So I didn't put much purpose in my step and neither did Jack. Once we were a decent amount of blocks away from the theater, Jack started to sing a bit.

"I got no use for moonlight or sappy poetry. Love at first sights for suckers, at least it used to be." He sang spinning me around on the sidewalk. I chuckled. It was a song from the show. "Look, girls are nice,  
once or twice, till I find someone new, but I never planned on someone like you." He sang. I smiled at him and sang the next part, which was really a repeat of the first.

"I got no use for moonlight or sappy poetry. Love at first sights for suckers, at least it used to be." Jack chuckled and we continued dancing. It was fun and we were covering more distance that way surprisingly.

"No, I never planned on someone like you." Jack finished off. He twirled me into him and I was looking up at him. He had a small, genuine, smile on his face and was just holding me in the middle of the street.

_Sha la la la la my oh my look at the girl to shy ain't gonna kiss the boy._ Some small part of my brain sang. Well, sometimes you have to act on impulses. I popped up on my tiptoes and gave Jack a quick kiss. Something about it made me nervous after I had already done it. A blush was crawling onto my cheeks and I tried to wriggle out of Jack's grasp. Jack simply held me tighter and chuckled.

"You're cute when you're flustered." He said.

"Shut up Jack." I mumbled. Jack smiled as I tried to hide my face in my hands. He tilted my chin up and pulled me into his own kiss. His lips were velvet like his voice and you could tell he had experience. Me? Not so much. It was a miracle I even had the guts to kiss him the first time. Now? Holy hell, this might complicate everything. When we broke apart, I was blushing and probably had an idiotic grin on my face that I probably caught from Jack. Who was grinning himself.

"I've kind of wanted to do that since you fell out of my bunk." He said. I chuckled.

"You could've done it earlier Cowboy." I said. He shrugged with a smirk returning.

"I was seeing how long it took you." He replied. I rolled my eyes at him and we continued walking, except my hand was now in his and Jack occasionally squeezing it, like he was afraid it was going to disappear.

"I'm not going anywhere Jack." I said.

"Thank god for that." He replied. I smiled as we reached my apartment building. Jack let go of my hand and smiled at me.

"Same time tomorrow Sam Maddox?" He asked.

"Same time tomorrow Jack Kelly." I replied. I hugged him one last time and he kissed me on the forehead. I blushed at that and ran inside, watching Jack walk away with a stupid grin on his face. I made my way quietly upstairs to the apartment where Liam was passed out on the couch and Jacob was sound asleep in his room. All was right in the world, so I took off my dress, put on a shirt and crashed in Liam's room for the night, thoughts of singing Jack Kelly swimming through my head.

_No, I never planned on someone like you._


	7. Chapter 7

A week had passed since I had last seen Jack Kelly, he seemed to have just disappear from the streets and I couldn't seem to find a newise that would be able to explain what had happened.

I walked out of the school building one day and decided today was the day I was going to hunt down a newsie who hopefully would explain to me what the hell was going on. I got out of school and ran into David outside the school who was waiting for Les to get released.

"Hey Sam," he greeted.

"Hey David, have you seen Jack? I haven't seen him in a week and that seems odd even for him." I asked. David nodded.

"He's been out sick, bedrest. Tried to go out selling a couple of times but he's either not made it down the stairs or Kloppman's stopped him before he could leave the lodging house." David said. I spotted the spare papers in his hand.

"Is that the afternoon edition?" I asked. David nodded; I swiped it out of his hand and counted the papers left. 19, "Seriously Davey, you can't sell 19 papers?" I asked. David rolled his eyes.

"I can, it's just not giving me any material to work with." He replied. It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Has Jack taught you nothing?" I asked.

"Fine, you sell them. Let's see how you do." He said. I chuckled and flipped through the pages to find something.

"EXTRA EXTRA, HOMELESS CHILDREN MOVED TO ABANDONED FACTORY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC. NO REMORSE AT THE HALL!" I shouted out. A couple of women scampered toward me and bought papers, handing me nickels and dimes. I wasn't in the game of correcting them about the price. I then went to appeal to the men. "EXTRA EXTRA, SHEEPSHEAD FOUND TO BE RIGGED!" Several men ran to grab a newspaper and with that I had one more left. I ran to a young woman. "Buy me last pape Miss?" I asked. Miss nodded and took the paper for a dime. I bowed and walked back to David.

"How did you-"

"I mastered the art of bullshiting at a young age." I replied. I shelled out the money out of my pocket and counted it out. "Hey, can you walk me to the Lodging House? I'm gonna give this to Jack." I said. David nodded and the two of us walked toward the Lodging House. We walked in silence and it nearly made me nervous, but then I remembered it was Davey and if he didn't have anything to say, he would stay quiet. "Hey, so how's selling gone for you, I mean other than today?" I asked.

"Oh, it's been going well, a bit difficult without Les helping me out." He said.

"I assume he pulls all the coins." I joked with a smirk.

"Oh shut up, just because you can sell 19 papers doesn't mean you can sell 100 by noon." David challenged  
"Tomorrow's Saturday right?" I asked. David nodded.

"Alright, challenge accepted. Tomorrow, I'll buy 100 papers, and sell them all before noon." I said.

"And if you don't?"

"Lunch for the entirety of the Lodging House is on me. If I win, you buy lunch." I replied.

"Done." He said. He spat in his hand and I spat as well and we shook on it. We had arrived at the Lodging House and I walked in to find Race, a couple of newsies I couldn't name, Spot, and Snipeshooter.

"Hey ya Fox, what brings you here?" Spot asked.

"Hey Conlon, I came to visit Jack, is he upstairs?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah, he's in his bunk." Race replied not looking up from his card game. I nodded.

"Cheers, side note, Spot why are you here?" I asked.

"Race invited me." He said. I shrugged and jogged up the stairs and remembered the way to the bunkroom. I walked in and found Jack lying on his top bunk and looked not as sickly as he could.

"Hey Cowboy," I said walking toward his bed. Jack attempted to only put his neck up, then groaned and then sat up and threw his legs over the edge.

"Hey Sam, sorry I haven't been around." He said. I took note of his appearance: his hair was knotted and messy, his smirk was wiry, and his eyes were slightly darker than normal.

"Sorry, heard you were sick, though I couldn't seem to find a newsie to explain it." I said. I pulled the coins out of my pocket and put it in a jar that was also filled with coins. "I'm assuming that's the pitch in jar since you haven't sold in a week." I said. Jack nodded and popped off the bed.

"How'd you get the money?" He asked.

"David had 19 papers left, so I volunteered to sell them for him and voila, more coinage for you I suppose. He also bet me that I couldn't sell 100 papers before noon tomorrow." I said. Jack chuckled and yawned.

"You sure you can take it?" He asked.

"Totally, I've watched you enough." I said.  
"Yeah well, I've had years you've had a couple sporadic instances." He replied. I rolled my eyes.

"Relax, it's not like my life is on the line, just whether or not I buy lunch. If I don't David does." I said. Jack laughed at that and walked towards the bathroom, I just leaned against one of the bed posts.  
"Alright," he replied.

"Hey, where are you going?" I asked.

"Well you're here, so I'm gonna attempt to clean up." He replied. "Why, wanna join me?" He asked with a smirk so sly that it made me briefly forget that he had a smile that could melt a normal upper class woman. I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

"No thanks, I'm good, might nap though." I replied. Jack chuckled.

"My bunk is your bunk. Though I wouldn't recommend it, I've been sick in it."

"Whatever," I replied. I jumped up and pulled myself into the bed and sort of dozed in and out. Then I heard Jack.

"We was never meant to meet, and then we meet, who knows why. One more stranger on the street. Just someone sweet passin' by. An angel come to save me, who didn't even know she gave me something to believe in for even a day." I woke up a little and just listened to Jack humming to himself. I opened one of my eyes and saw a shirtless Jack with his suspenders on his hips and a towel in his hands trying to dry his hair. When he made it to the bed, he looked at me. "I know you're awake." He said. I was startled out of bed and Jack caught me. I laughed.

"I have to stop getting out of your bed like this." I said.

"Tell me about it, I'm starting to think that you're planning this." Jack replied. I laughed and Jack set me down, putting on an undershirt and then his shirt. "Well then, should we go see the others?" He asked. I nodded and the two of us and jogged down the steps to find more of the newsies sitting around a small table playing poker, I looked outside and noticed that the sun was going down.

"I should probably head home." I said. Jack nodded.

"I'll walk you."

"Oh no you won't." Mush called. "You're still completely sick. You'll have to talk to Kloppman about selling tomorrow, but you are still sick." He said. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Fine, same time tomorrow Sam?" Jack asked.

"Same time tomorrow Jack." I replied. Mush opened the door and the two of us walked out. I was happy not talking but Mush broke the silence.

"So, what's going on with you and Jack?" He asked. I raised my eyebrow.

"Nothing? We're just friends?" I said. Mush chuckled.

"Please, Jack's been trying to get one of us to find you to tell you that he was sick."

"And how come no one did, I'll admit I was a bit panicked when I hadn't seen him in a week." I said.

"Well, slightly because we don't get to annoy Jack that often and when he's sick he can't slug us for being smartasses." I chuckled at that. "And, because not all of us are Jack and don't know your schedule." Mush said.

"Alright well fair enough," I said. We walked a bit more in silence and arrived on my doorstep.

"Thanks for walking me back."

"No worries, Cowboy would've had my head." He said. I laughed and jogged up to my apartment and opened it up. Liam was crashed on the couch and I had to assume that Jacob was asleep in his room. I smiled and walked into crashed in Liam's room.

_**A/N: Apologies for the delay. The world decided to implode around me for the bit and I was forced to deal with it, but seeing as I'm going on a Newsies kick, figures it's about time I update. See you guys in chapter 8.**_


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